Trump settles $175M bond dispute so civil fraud appeal can go forward

Former President Donald Trump on Monday settled a dispute over the $175 million cash bond he put up in order to appeal a $454 million verdict against him for supposedly inflating the value of his properties on financial documents to get loans.

New York Attorney General Letitia James had objected to the bond even though it was all cash after previously threatening to seize Trump's properties in New York if he didn't pay the fine amount.

Judge Arthur Engoron said he was concerned that the bond could be devalued by market forces, but Lawyer Alina Habba said after the agreement that his concern showed a lack of financial knowledge because cash was not subject to market forces.

"This case should've been in the commercial division," she said derisively. "It had no business being in the civil division in front of a judge that today was trying to invalidate any bond and doesn't understand that cash is green."

It's not the first time that Engoron has displayed his lack of knowledge about commercial finance matters.

During the trial, he confused tax assessments with actual property valuations and tried to say that Mar-A-Lago was only worth $18 million when it is actually worth at least $300 million, which could also be a low valuation.